Pay Equity Under Scrutiny in Australia

A pay claim being launched today by librarians will test the water for thousands of women who say their work is undervalued because they are female.

The case, in the Industrial Relations Commission, seeking an average 14 per cent pay rise for librarians and similar workers, is the first to test the new principle of gender pay equity, established by the commission last year.

The Public Service Association, representing librarians, library technicians and archivists, will compare their skills, responsibilities and working conditions with other Public Service professions dominated by men.